Vintage Contemporary Coastal Garden

Category: Contemporary, Modern & Artistic

Garden Design Project: CONFGD001

The magnificent period house fronts on the beach in an exclusive area of North East Fife. The garden area sits behind the house, with high walls three sides.

The brief called for a Garden Design that was Contemporary, but with a vintage feel. A Garden Design that was formal enough to complement the Georgian house, but that could provide for plenty of informal seating, a boules court and a barbecue.

The design drawings were all hand drawn on a drawing board in the old-fashioned way (no Garden Design Software), with technical drawing instruments. Lettering for titles and labels applied with transtext (self-adhesive transparent film).

The Coastal Garden, untended for many years, was to be completely cleared to make way for the new garden.

The construction and planting of the garden, undertaken with our small team, supplemented with additional support when required, was completed in three months.

This included the removal of some 150 tonnes of spoil (a remarkable amount of which was beach sand that had blown into the garden over the years).

The intention was to reproduce some of the type of detailing seen in Mediterranean form al landscaping, but the garden was also to reflect its Coastal location and the local tradition for decorating structures with shells.

Different areas of the garden use Indian Sandstone, Sawn Sandstone and buff-coloured self-binding gravel.

The garden is provided with form through a series of rendered walls which run in a sinuous loop around two sides of the garden, and which help to define a formal avenue running parallel to one of the boundary walls.

This avenue provides a strong sight line from a set of French Windows to the rear wall of the garden, where a sculpture will provide a focal point.

The Rendered Walls also define the boules court area.

The Sawn Sandstone Paving is broken into a pattern of squares using reclaimed quarry tiles. These are also used as copes for some of the walls.

The hard landscaping part of the project was detailed with the addition of 17 decorative panels, which included thousands of shells set out in geometric patterns.

Other features of the Contemporary garden include two Oak Benches.

The planting in the Contemporary Flower Bed is heavily herbaceous, with an emphasis on hot coloured flowers. Cordylines, Phormium, Grasses and Yuccas were also predominant in the planting. The full planting schedule for the flower bed design can be seen at the foot of this page.

Submitted By: Jos Finer BA Dip PSGD (Distinction)

Website: www.finergardens.co.uk

Flower Bed Planting Schedule

         Grasses
                        Calamagrostis Brachytrida
                        Festuca Glauca
                        Helictotrichin Sempervirens
                        Miscanthus Sinensis
                        Pennisetum Alpecuroides
                        Stipa Tenuisima

         Ferns
                        Dryopteris Affinis
                        Dryopteris Felix mas
                        Dryopteris Wallichiana
                        Matteuccia Struthiopteris
                        Polysticum Setiferum

         Conifers
                        Pinus Mugo

         Shrubs
                        Cordyline Australis
                        Euonymous Fortunei 'Emerald Gaeity'
                        Phormium Tenax
                        Rosemarinus Officianalis
                        Santolina Chamaecycyparissus
                        Thymus Vulgaris
                        Viburnum Davidii
                        Viburnum Plicatum 'Maresei'
                        Yucca Gloriosa

         Perennials
                        Achillea 'Cloth of Gold'
                        Aster Amellus 'Rudolf Goeth'
                        Astrantia 'Hadspen Blood'
                        Calendula Officionalis
                        Crocosmia 'Spitfire'
                        Crocosmia 'Lucifer'
                        Delosperma 'Red Mountain'
                        Echinacia Purpurea ' White Swan'
                        Erigeron 'Wayne Roderick'
                        Geum Coccineum
                        Helenium 'Moerheim Beauty'
                        Hosta 'Halycon'
                        Hosta 'Elegans'
                        Kniphofia 'Alcazar'
                        Kniphofia 'Royal Castle'
                        Lupinus 'Russel Hybrids'
                        Matthiola Fruticulosa 'Alba'
                        Oreganum Vulgare
                        Osteopsermum Jucundum
                        Petroselinum Crispum
                        Rudbeckia 'Goldstrum'
                        Salvia Officinalis
                        Sedum Spectabile 'Autumn Joy'
                        Solidago 'Goldenmosa'

         Climbers
                        Hydrangea Petiolaris
                        Jasminum Officinale

         Annuals
                        Escholzia Californica

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